Warren: Trump’s EPA pick the ‘attorney general for Exxon’
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted Scott Pruitt, President Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, from the Senate floor Thursday, arguing he prioritized corporations over his home state.
“A state’s attorney general is supposed to serve the people,” Warren said. “Instead of working as the attorney general of Oklahoma, Mr. Pruitt has served as the attorney general for Exxon.”
Democrats — led by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) — are holding an all-night talk-a-thon from the Senate floor to protest Pruitt’s nomination. A final vote on his nomination is expected early Friday afternoon.
{mosads}Democrats are opposing Pruitt because of his views on climate change, lawsuits he launched against the agency as Oklahoma’s attorney general and his financial ties to the industry he’ll be tasked with regulating.
Warren added that Pruitt is “big oil’s go-to attorney general.”
“Those big polluters have their fantasy EPA nominee,” she said. “He measures … success by how happy his corporate donors are.”
Pruitt publicly defended Exxon after Democratic attorneys general questioned if the oil and gas company had undercut its own internal climate change research.
Democrats don’t have the ability to block Pruitt on their own. Republicans have 52 seats in the Senate, and Cabinet picks only need a simple majority.
Though GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) will oppose Pruitt, Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) are expected to support him.
Republicans have largely rallied around Pruitt’s nomination.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) hit back at Democratic criticism, calling some of the accusations “ludicrous.”
“He’s a statesman. He’s a dedicated public servant,” the Oklahoma senator said. “Scott has fought for the states to be able to be in the driver’s seat.”
Lankford also argued that Democrats are launching inaccurate attacks about Oklahoma, saying his state is being “ripped apart for political gain.”
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